Western Industrial Contractors' transition from Excel to efficient ALVAO asset tracking

About the Western Industrial Contractors (WIC)

As a dynamic and rapidly growing company in the construction and industrial services sectors, Western Industrial Contractors (WIC) is located in Denver, Colorado, USA. With a commitment to excellence, WIC specializes in delivering comprehensive solutions to clients, including Fortune 1000 companies and Government entities, across various industries such as airport, automotive, food and beverages, parcel, postal, power, and heavy industrial. As part of its operations, WIC relies on a vast array of IT assets, including Windows laptops/desktops, iPads, iPhones, and other technology devices to ensure the smooth execution of its projects.

Challenge

As WIC expanded its operations, the company faced significant challenges in managing its IT assets and only relied on cumbersome Excel spreadsheets and manual processes to track IT assets, which posed several issues:

• Manual labor and error-prone tracking: The manual asset tracking process was error-prone and labor-intensive and consequently IT team lost a majority of valuable time and resources that could have been given on key projects.
• Lack of real-time asset visibility: IT at WIC lacked real-time data about asset location and ownership consequently leading to operational inefficiencies, especially during joiners, movers, leavers, and asset relocation processes.
• Obstacle with planning a budget and renewals: Forecasting the future for hardware needs and managing the renewal process was an overwhelming task with multiple out-of-date Excel sheets.
• Exhaustive work to report: Lack of real-time data and a single place of truth brought a challenge to preparing quarterly reports. It was a time-consuming effort that hindered effective decision-making.
• Remote work caused a challenge in asset management: The shift to remote work further complicated processes such as asset handovers and where all assets are located.
• Data scattered across different spreadsheets: To track any asset meant browsing through numerous spreadsheets, making it challenging to quickly determine device location and its ownership status.

Solution

To address these challenges, Western Industrial Contractors sought a comprehensive solution that would provide a single source of truth for all its assets, saving time and manual effort. ALVAO Asset Management was chosen as the ideal solution for its ability to:

• Centralized asset data: ALVAO Asset Management offered a centralized repository for all asset data, enabling easy access to information about the location and ownership of devices.
• Full audit trail: The solution provided a complete audit trail for each asset with all history ensuring accountability and transparency in asset management.
• Proactive management: WIC could now forecast its hardware needs, plan a budget accordingly, and proactively handle renewals, resulting in cost savings and efficiency improvements.
• Reporting and compliance: ALVAO Asset Management streamlined the reporting process, allowing WIC to generate reports quickly and maintain compliance effortlessly.
• Integration with Azure and Intune: The integration with Microsoft Azure and Intune simplified device management and automation, aligning perfectly with WIC's needs.

Results

The implementation of ALVAO Asset Management at Western Industrial Contractors has brought about crucial improvements. The WIC team has appreciated the user-friendly nature of the tool, finding it easy to navigate and use effectively. Another highlight for WIC is the seamless integration with Microsoft Azure and Intune which has been a standout feature, simplifying operations and enhancing functionality.

Scott Baugh, IT director at WIC, commented, "I love the Microsoft integration the most. It just works and makes it easy for me as a customer. When I enroll a device, the ALVAO agent is installed automatically with Autopilot. That's exactly what we need - automation that ensures things are in their correct places."

Another area of improvement is in the transition from Excel-based tracking to a unified asset management platform has led to more efficient operations.

“The whole system is great because we were able to go from multiple Excel-based workbooks to one place,” comments Scott.

ALVAO Asset Management has significantly enhanced asset organization, resulting in better inventory management practices. Furthermore, integration with Intune has allowed for more effective management of mobile devices, eliminating the need for manual data export. Scott also added "I love the tool. It's easy to use and not complicated. What I wanted most was a high level of integration into Azure and InTune. I didn't want a system that would force me to recreate everything."

WIC has also emphasized high satisfaction with ALVAO's technical support and their effective communication and timely issue resolution.

In summary, ALVAO Asset Management has revolutionized asset management at Western Industrial Contractors, offering a comprehensive solution that has improved efficiency, organization, and accountability. The seamless integration with Microsoft products has further supported automation and data accuracy, enabling WIC to confidently continue its growth journey.

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